THERE’S AN EPIDEMIC SWEEPING THE NATION AND IT … · don’t have to give excuses.”...
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14 15 THERE’S AN EPIDEMIC SWEEPING THE NATION AND IT THREATENS TO RUIN YOUR LIVES. JOHN SCALLY TALKS TO SPORTS STAR PAT SPILLANE TO DISCOVER HOW YOU CAN AVOID BECOMING ANOTHER VICITM. take a lot of guts not to experiment with drink without losing face. But don’t allow yourself to be pressured by others. Simply say ‘No thanks’ politely but firmly. You don’t have to give excuses.” Responsibility is central to Spillane’s philosophy. “We all have to make tough decisions when we’re growing up, but drugs and drink cloud the issues. Taking drugs and getting drunk on a Saturday night can seem like an attractive option when you’re under pressure but it won’t make your problems go away. In fact, it’ll make things worse because you’re less able to think clearly and make the right decisions. “My advice is don’t mess with drugs and don’t binge drink, because if you do, you can be sure they’ll make a total mess of you.” Pat Spillane teaches PE and Geography at secondary level in Bantry, County Cork. saturday night sickness true or false? >Withdrawal from alcohol can be painful. Symptoms range from shaking, sweating, sickness, and depression to hallucinations, fever, and convulsions. >Whether you’re a first-time or a frequent user, cocaine can cause you to stop breathing or suffer a fatal heart attack. You’ll never know whether that fix you’re about to have is the one that’ll kill you. >Drink plays a factor in about four in every 10 deaths, from car crashes, burns, drowning, falls and other unintentional injuries. >Overdosing on the depressant drug GHB means immediate emergency hospital care. Within an hour, a GHB overdose can cause coma and stop your breathing, resulting in death. >Once you start out on an acid trip you can’t stop. If it’s a bad trip, that means up to 12 hours of potential panic attacks, confusion, depression, and delusions. IT’S SO SAD TO SEE TALENTED YOUNG PEOPLE THROWING AWAY THEIR LIVES to say the drink problem appears to be out of control, especially on Saturday nights,” he says. “It’s so sad to see talented young people throwing their lives away like this. a massive risk "And if you’re dabbling with drugs you’re taking a massive risk. It’s not worth it. Everybody knows that drugs damage your health. No one would walk out in front of a moving car, yet many people are determined to take drugs.” Spillane isn’t lecturing us from some remote, out of touch position. He grew up in the family bar, is the father of teens himself, and works as a teacher in a secondary school. He understands and he cares. “All I ask from my students is that they do their best and I see it as my job to help them do that. To me education isn’t just about getting exam results. After five years in my care I want them to leave as good, solid, mature young people.” And that’s why he’s so vocal about the dangers of the drugs and drink culture. “Young people are understandably curious about alcohol and are tempted to experiment with it. They might think that if they drink they’ll feel older and more independent. But getting drunk is not a short cut to growing up. can’t stand up “If you want to be an adult you have to have enough backbone to make the right choices and do what’s right for you and nobody else. That doesn’t mean you have to be a ‘goody goody’ or that you can’t have a good time. You can have a great life, with plenty of laughs and still not get so drunk that you can’t stand up. “Belonging to a group is very important to people and it can “IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO SAY NO TO DRINK AND DRUGS. But if a person only likes you because you get drunk on a Saturday night with them, they’re not much of a friend.” Pat Spillane is one of the greatest Gaelic football players of all time and as a presenter of The Sunday Game he’s also a well-known face on RTE television. But whether his name means anything to you or not, the topic which has got him fired up today is probably one you’re very familiar with. Pat’s decided to speak out about what he sees as ‘the sickness of Saturday night.’ It’s a term that he has dubbed for the apparent growing trend for certain young people to down booze and take drugs on a Saturday night, and then get involved in vicious fights and potentially fatal accidents. “I’m frightened by the fact that Answer: they are all true
Transcript of THERE’S AN EPIDEMIC SWEEPING THE NATION AND IT … · don’t have to give excuses.”...
1415
THERE’S AN EPIDEMIC SWEEPING THE NATION AND IT THREATENS TO RUIN YOUR LIVES. JOHN SCALLY TALKS TO SPORTS STAR PAT SPILLANE TO DISCOVER HOW YOU CAN AVOID BECOMING ANOTHER VICITM.
take a lot of guts not to experiment with drink without losing face. But don’t allow yourself to be pressured by others. Simply say ‘No thanks’ politely but fi rmly. You don’t have to give excuses.”
Responsibility is central to Spillane’s philosophy. “We all have to make tough decisions when we’re growing up, but drugs and drink cloud the issues. Taking drugs and getting drunk on a Saturday night can seem like an attractive option when you’re under pressure but it won’t make your problems go away. In fact, it’ll make things worse because you’re less able to think clearly and make the right decisions.
“My advice is don’t mess with drugs and don’t binge drink, because if you do, you can be sure they’ll make a total mess of you.”Pat Spillane teaches PE and Geography at secondary level in Bantry, County Cork.
saturday night sickness
true or false?>Withdrawal from alcohol can be painful. Symptoms range from shaking, sweating, sickness, and depression to hallucinations, fever, and convulsions.>Whether you’re a fi rst-time or a frequent user, cocaine can cause you to stop breathing or suffer a fatal heart attack. You’ll never know whether that fi x you’re about to have is the one that’ll kill you.>Drink plays a factor in about four in every 10 deaths, from car crashes, burns, drowning, falls and other unintentional injuries.>Overdosing on the depressant drug GHB means immediate emergency hospital care. Within an hour, a GHB overdose can cause coma and stop your breathing, resulting in death.>Once you start out on an acid trip you can’t stop. If it’s a bad trip, that means up to 12 hours of potential panic attacks, confusion, depression, and delusions.
IT’S SO SAD TO SEE TALENTED YOUNG PEOPLE THROWING AWAY THEIR LIVESto
say
because if you do, you can be sure they’ll make a total mess of you.”Pat Spillane teaches PE and Geography at secondary level in Bantry, County Cork.
confusion, depression, and delusions.
the drink problem appears to be out of control, especially on Saturday nights,” he says. “It’s so sad to see talented young people throwing their lives away like this. a massive risk "And if you’re dabbling with drugs you’re taking a massive risk. It’s not worth it. Everybody knows that drugs damage your health. No one would walk out in front of a moving car, yet many people are determined to take drugs.”
Spillane isn’t lecturing us from some remote, out
of touch position. He grew up in the family bar, is the father of teens himself, and works as a teacher in a secondary school. He understands and he cares.
“All I ask from my students is that they do their best and I see it as my job to help them do that. To me education isn’t just about getting exam results. After fi ve years in my care I want them to leave as good, solid, mature young people.”And that’s why he’s so vocal about the dangers of the drugs and drink culture. “Young people are understandably curious about alcohol and are tempted to experiment with it. They might think that if they drink they’ll feel older and more independent. But getting drunk is not a short cut to growing up. can’t stand up “If you want to be an adult you have to have enough backbone to make the right choices and do what’s right for you and nobody else. That doesn’t mean you have to be a ‘goody goody’ or that you can’t have a good time. You can have a great life, with plenty of laughs and still not get so drunk that you can’t stand up.
“Belonging to a group is very important to people and it can
“IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO SAY NO TO DRINK AND DRUGS. But if a person only likes you because you get drunk on a Saturday night with them, they’re not much of a friend.” Pat Spillane is one of the greatest Gaelic football players of all time and as a presenter of The Sunday Game he’s also a well-known face on RTE television. But whether his name means anything to you or not, the topic which has got him fi red up today is probably one you’re very familiar with.
Pat’s decided to speak out about what he sees as ‘the sickness of Saturday night.’ It’s a term that he has dubbed for the apparent growing trend for certain young people to down booze and take drugs on a Saturday night, and then get involved in vicious fi ghts and potentially fatal accidents.
“I’m frightened by the fact that
Answer: they are all true
